Everything you need to know about today’s coverage of Israel and the Mideast. Join the Israel Daily News Stream on Facebook.
Today’s Top Stories
1. PA officials told AP they’re already gearing up for “the day after” John Kerry’s peace push goes down the tubes:
Palestinians believe the U.S. effort to restart peace talks is doomed, and they’re preparing instead to resume their campaign of seeking membership in key international organizations as soon as next month, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
See also what Israeli and Palestinian officials told the NY Times about peace efforts.
2. The Palestinians are bashing Israel at the World Health Organization conference. WHO’s politicization comes at the expense of the Syrians, reports the Jerusalem Post:
Neither this document, nor any others presented to the assembly meeting, makes any mention of the health situation elsewhere in Syria.
The Syrian government submitted a document that called on WHO to “intervene immediately and take effective measures to end inhuman Israeli practices that target the health of Syrian citizens.”
3. Two AMIA bombing suspects running for Iranian president. JTA took note.
4. HonestReporting’s mission continued with a trip up north. At an army base in the Golan, Commander “N” told the group:
We are proud to keep our borders safe, knowing that you guys are there defending our name. 
5. “Terror” Only Happens in London: Soldier beheaded in London terror attack. Had the same thing happened in Israel, UK headlines would’ve been a lot different.
6. Is CNN Lying About al-Dura? Did CNN place the interests of its cameraman above the interests of honest reporting?
Israel and the Palestinians
• Talking to the Daily Telegraph, Yuval Steinitz made some frank comments about hostile British attitudes towards Israel:
Speaking exclusively to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Steinitz suggested that there was growing antagonism – taking the form of hostile media coverage, “incitement” and boycott campaigns – and intimated that a less friendly attitude may be being reflected in official Britsh policy.
• The verdict in Philippe Karsenty’s legal battle with France 2 over the network’s Mohammed al-Dura was postponed. In a Jerusalem Post op-ed, Karsenty weighs in on the Kuperwasser report and how it might impact his proceedings.
• Shmuel Rosner worked for Haaretz on the day Mohammed al-Dura became famous. Thirteen years later, he makes a very frank statement in his NY Times blog:
And yet my thinking has changed. I started out believing the dominant version of events largely because I was made skeptical by Israel’s attempts to save its skin; now, I accept the possibility that the Israeli government’s take might be correct after all.
This evolution brings me relief: I want to be able to trust what my government says. But that carries its own problem: what about my own motivations? Have I really been swayed by the new evidence, or am I finally giving in to a deep desire of letting Israel off the hook?
Contrast Rosner’s soul-searching with the sneering contempt of the Vulture Club, a group of reporters and NGO personalities working in war zones. What Alana Goodman discovered (and the Washington Times picked up on) from comments on its closed Facebook group reinforces suspicions that Israel can’t get a fair shake from the foreign press corps and NGO activists.
If the Vulture Club rings a bell, it’s because last year, members turned their knives on Robert Fisk and lobbied Gawker to respect a news blackout of NBC News corresponent Richard Engel’s kidnapping in Syria.
- Google thinks Gush Etziyon residents live in Palestine.
- More than 75 Hezbollahniks killed in Syria.
- Iran induces “Internet coma” ahead of elections.
